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Spiritual Warfare

 


Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places

The Bible is very clear that there are spiritual forces behind many of the issues that Christians deal with. The Bible clearly tells us how to confront these spiritual forces. The Lord Jesus showed His disciples how to deal with entrenched forces that are extremely difficult to defeat. This is found in both Matthew and Mark. The Bible gives great detail to this encounter to which I think we should really pay close attention.
Both of these gospels give account of the story of a father who brought his young son to the Lord Jesus to be healed. The disciples were unable to heal the child. The young boy had mental problems; however, behind these problems were an unclean spirit. The oppression of this devil manifested itself in mental problems in the young child.
The Lord Jesus made it clear that it took faith to free the boy of this oppression. The boy's father then made a statement that I have used many times in my own life: Mark 9:24
And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
There were many times in my life that I believed yet unbelief was screaming at me, and I echoed Mark 24 just like the boy's father.
The Lord Jesus privately taught His disciples that the problem was it took faith to defeat the devil and free the boy, and they were full of unbelief. In both gospel accounts, the Lord Jesus made it very clear the problem was faith, but he then added that the faith also involved prayer and fasting. To obtain victory of this entrenched devil, it took faith along with prayer and fasting. In difficult spiritual battles the Lord was telling us that both prayer and fasting was needed. The verses to show this follow:
Matthew 17:21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
Mark 9:29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
I posted both gospel accounts of this incident so you can see how important prayer and fasting are in spiritual warfare.

Matthew (KJV)

Mathew 17:14,15 And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is a lunatic, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.
(16) And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
(:17) Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
(18) And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
(19) Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
(20) And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
(21) Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

Mark (KJV)

Mark 9:17,18 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.
Mark 9:19 He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.
Mark 9:20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
Mark 9:21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.
Mark 9:22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Mark 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
Mark 9:25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
Mark 9:26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.
Mark 9:27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.
Mark 9:28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?
Mark 9:29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

The NIV and almost all modern translations omit Matthew 17:21 and omit fasting from Mark 9:29! If the translation contains Matthew 17:21 there is a footnote stating the oldest manuscripts do not contain this verse. How can a person have faith about a verse, if it is in a bracket with a footnote questioning its authority as part of the Bible?
The Lord Jesus made it clear that in difficult spiritual warfare with entrenched demonic forces that both prayer and fasting were needed to defeat them. These modern translations omitting fasting insulate demonic forces that cannot be defeated. This is like a coup for the devil, as he used spiritual corrupt "scholars" and publishers to promote modern translations which insulate him from defeat.
I have dealt with many Christians that are under the care of a doctor and taking drugs for depression, anxiety and other mental problems. There is a lack of power in their life and in the church they are attending. There could be several reasons for this, but one reason I believe is that prayer and fasting to deal with these issues have been removed from the modern translations. These people are trapped and what they need for the victory has been stripped from the translations they read, while the answer is found in the KJV.
I also posted about the modern translations removing that: "the Lord Jesus came to heal the brokenhearted" as found in Luke 4:18. When you add this to the removal of prayer and fasting, a clear picture is coming into focus how satan is using the modern translation to keep Christians defeated and insulate himself from defeat. There are spiritual reasons why the words and verses were removed from the modern translations.The spiritual power is found in the King James Bible, as it was not corrupted and contains the complete word of God.
I have posted the NIV to show how Mark 9:29 and Mattherw17:21 have been altered in the modern translations:

Matthew (NIV)
Matthew 17:14,15 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. "Lord, have mercy on my son," he said. "He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water.
(16) I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him."
(17) "You unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me."
(18) Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.
(19) Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"
(20) He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
(21)
(22) When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.

Mark (NIV)
Mark 9:25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again."
(26) The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, "He's dead."
(27) But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
(28) After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"
(29) He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer."
 

By John McTernan: Defend and Proclaim the Faith
Blog: John McTernan's Insights at www.johnmcternan.name

Meet author John McTernan
During numerous appearances on television, radio and in seminars, he has publicly defended Israel in light of Biblical prophecy. His current best selling book is As America Has Done To Israel.
He is author of the acclaimed book God's Final Warning to America, and co-author of the bestseller Israel: The Blessing or the Curse. From his experience debating, John wrote the Only Jesus of Nazareth series. This series includes: Only Jesus of Nazareth Can Sit on the Throne of David and Only Jesus of Nazareth Can Be Israel's King Messiah. Additionally, he has written several tracts, including Muhammad or Jesus: The Prophet Like Unto Moses, and The Koran vs the Bible.

As America Has Done to Israel

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